Louis townsend



(No Model.)

, L. TOWNSEND.

WIRE SHEARS No. 506.568. Patented 001;. 1o,v 1893.

Li ,Wm% M m I W. 0 z. A M m dizld A TTOHNEYS.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS TOWNSEND, OF EVANSVILLE, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO EDWARD GRILL, OF SAME PLACE.

WlRE-SHEARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 506,568, dated October 10, 1893.

Application filed February 20, 1893. Serial No 463,118. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LOUIS TOWNSEND, a citizen of the United States, residing at Evansville, in the county of Vanderburg and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Wire-Gutters, of which the following is a specification.

It is the object of my invention to provide a tool'for use of firemen and others, which may be used with perfect safety for cutting electric-light wires, or other wires carrying electric currents, of such strength as to be dangerous to human life. To this end, I have adopted the construction and combination of parts hereinafter described, whereby I produce a cutter adapted to be either pushed, or pulled, against the wires which it is desired to sever.

The construction and operation of the tool are as hereinafter described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of the tool. Fig. 2 is a perspective View of one of the parts of the same, detached; and Figs. 3, 4, and 5 represent the practical use of the tool, as hereinafter described.

Referring especially to Figs. 1 and 2, it will be seen, that the tool is composed essentially of two parts, which are alike in form and proportions.

Each half of the tool is composed of a flat, oblong head, A, having a V-shaped notch at each end, and a curved shank, a, whose eX- tremity terminates in an insulated handle, b, adapted to be grasped by the hand. These H-shaped heads, A, are pivoted together, at the center, by means of a screw, screw-bolt, or rivet, a. Two of the diagonally-opposite jaws 1 and 2 of each head, A, are cutters proper, but the other two jaws, 3, have no function save to cover and protect the edges of such cutters 1, 2, when the tool is not in use. It Will be noted, that, in the case of one head, the cutting portion is formed by the base of the shank. The shanks a, a, are so curved as to diverge from each other at a point just inrear of the heads, A, and a stud, d, is fixed at that point, in one of the shanks, so that it comes in contact with the other shank when the cutters are closed, as shown in Fig. 1. The said stud (1 thus serves as a stop, preventing the cutters proper from passing each other so that wire can be out only when the handles b b are drawn apart.

Such outward movement of the handles is limited by a cord, or chain e, attached to them as shown.

The cutters, 1, and jaws,'3, on the outer ends of the heads, A, are preferably somewhat shorter than those on the inner end of the same, but they are similar in form, in that their inner edgesare curved outward, to facilitate the application of the tool to wires.

In practical use of the tool, it may be placed upon or pushed against a wire (see Fig. 3) say one lying on the ground-in which case the wire will be received in the outer notch, between the outer cutters 1 and 1. Then, by drawing the handles, 1), apart, as indicated by arrows,thewire, as, will be caught between, and easily severed by, said cutters, 1, 1, which obviously operate like shears.

If the wire to be severed is overhead, the tool may be hooked over the same, as shown in Fig. 4, and then, upon separating the handles, b, b, as before, the inner cutters, 2, 2, will sever the wire, a.

In some cases it may be desirable and expedient, for sake of rapid work, to sever two or more wires simultaneously,'as when several wires are attached to the same post, bracket, or other form of support. In such cases, the two heads, A, may be thrust among the wires and so manipulated that one or more enter the notch between outer cutters 1, 1, and another or others between the inner cutters 2, 2, as shown in Fig. 5.

The tool may thus be worked efliciently for its purpose without involving any danger to the user.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The improved wire-cutting tool composed of two heads which are essentially similar in form each having cutting jaws, arranged diagonally opposite each other, and the said heads being pivoted together centrally as shown, so they coincide when in normal position, the shanks and attached handles being curved laterally from each other, as shown, whereby, when the handles are drawn apart, the cutters meet, as specified.

LOUIS TOWNSEND.

Witnesses:

JOHN TEHLAUOH, LOUIS O. RAsoH. 

